


Everything to Win

by JadelynTate



Series: Darcy Eppes-Granger [4]
Category: Marvel Cinematic Universe, Numb3rs, The Avengers (Marvel Movies), Thor (Movies)
Genre: Crossover, Crossover Pairings, Darcy Lewis Is a Good Bro, Darcy Lewis worries about everyone, Darcy Lewis-centric, F/M, Gen, Real Family
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-03-21
Updated: 2018-03-21
Packaged: 2019-04-05 17:04:40
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,032
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14048835
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/JadelynTate/pseuds/JadelynTate
Summary: Darcy is sent home to LA when Jane is sent to Europe. She's with her family when things go belly-up in New York.





	Everything to Win

Darcy sighed as she parked the car in the visitors section of the FBI parking garage. It had been years since she’d driven in the city, usually when she was there Colby or Don or Dad or Charlie would drive her, since she didn’t actually have a car anymore. The car she’d used at Culver was still on the east coast, in long term vehicle storage, and seeing as how that was the car she’d had since she was in high school…

Well, point was, she had forgotten what LA traffic was like, especially so close to the FBI offices. She never ever wanted to do this again.

“Alright Darcy,” she told herself, forehead up against the top of the wheel. “Get out, go see Don and Colby, and figure out a way to explain all this without mentioning gods of thunder.” 

She had to repeat her mantra to herself five times before she actually got up and out of the car but eventually she was in the entrance, through security and was getting her visitor ID badge. 

“Who are you here to see?” the agent at the desk asked, looking both tired, bored, and really annoyed. Darcy could relate. 

“Agent Colby Granger and/or Agent Don Eppes,” she replied with a slight smile. 

“Reason for the visit?” the agent asked, typing on her computer. 

“Personal,” she answered and the agent finally looked at her, frowning. Darcy gave her an amused grin. “One’s my brother and one’s my husband.” The agents were aware of who she was (most of them) so she never really bothered to hide when she was here. Granted, most of the time she didn’t advertise it like this but this agent was new and she wanted to see what the woman would say. 

The agent blinked at her several times before she snorted. 

“So that’s why Granger tends to get in more trouble with Eppes than the others,” she said and immediately looked like she wanted to take it back. Darcy laughed out loud. 

“Colby has a tendency to do stupid shit,” she agreed. A quick glance down confirmed the woman was wearing a wedding band, which was part of why she added, “Don’s said more than once if Colby makes me a widow, he’s going to have Charlie bring him back to life just so he can kill him again.” 

The agent snickered as she handed back her ID. Glad to have given some dirt on Don and Colby to the newbie agent, she grabbed her visitor pass and headed upstairs. Charlie and Amita had mentioned the crop of new agents viewed her husband and brother with something akin to hero worship. It drove both men nuts but there was little they could do—so Darcy would do what she could to make it clear both men were just like anyone else. Robin had taken to doing the same thing and so far, her sister-in-law seemed confident the two men had no idea. 

Don, being the head of all the violent crimes teams, had managed to stay on the same level as the rest of his people. The last guy in his position had been on a completely different floor, which had always drove Don nuts, so when he’d taken the position, he’d insisted his office be near his teams. She knew some of the agents weren’t thrilled with that but Colby didn’t mind, as it meant he could bug his brother-in-law that much better. 

Darcy just liked it because she didn’t have to switch floors when she wanted to visit both of them. 

Stepping off the elevator, her eyes immediately went to Colby’s desk—it was empty. A glance at Don’s office found the blinds open, as usual, and the room empty. Finally, she looked over at the conference room, where, sure enough, Charlie was presenting something to a small group of agents. She didn’t recognize most of them, but figured it was Colby’ team—most of the agents didn’t use Charlie much, though if they asked he always tried to help. Mostly it was Colby who kept bringing her brother in for the big cases his team was given. Smiling at the agents she passed, she garnered more than a few curious looks. She wasn’t surprised, as a lot of the office were new, younger agents, who didn’t know who she was. 

Slipping into the back of the conference room, she waited for Charlie to finish his spiel (something to do with maximizing their search patterns). He did so and immediately half the room emptied, all talking a mile a minute about how they were going to use Charlie’s math. Eventually it was just Charlie, Don, Colby, Ian, Liz, Nikki, and Megan. 

No one had noticed her yet, everyone still talking with Charlie and going over his findings. Finally, Ian must have realized someone else was in the room because he looked over his shoulder and did a double take. 

“Eleanor!” he said, catching the attention of everyone else. She rolled her eyes at the various exclamations of her name and the way Colby literally tripped over a chair trying to get to her first. Ian and her father were the only people in the world who still called her by her birth name—even Charlie and Don rarely used it anymore. 

“What are you doing here?” Liz asked once Colby had let her go. She laughed. 

“Jane got offered the chance to use some massive telescope in Europe and it was suggested I use this time to visit,” she said, moving out of Colby’s space to give hugs to everyone. “I wasn’t about to say no.” 

Not that she really could have, but she wasn’t going to tell them that quite yet. Coulson had sounded honestly worried when he’d called and told her the plans to move her and Jane. The fact he hadn’t been able to hide it was the main reason she and Jane hadn’t argued much about the abrupt change in their plans. 

“Does Dad know you’re here?” Don asked as he and Charlie shoved her between them. Colby, as usual, looked half put out, half amused at the familiar move—they’d been doing it since her brothers had first discovered they were dating. At this point, she was pretty sure it was more habit than anything else. 

“Not yet,” she said. “Coulson arranged for me to get a car at the airport. By the way, someone want to drive that thing back to LAX for me? Cause I forgot how much I hate driving in LA.” 

“Coulson arranged the car?” Don asked, eyes narrowing.

“…and now I’m thinking the car and having to drive it in LA was his subtle punishment for me breaking into his office to get my iPod back while he was away,” she mused and several people choked. She took in the various looks and went on the defensive. “What? He confiscated it way back when and I still hadn’t gotten it back and it had 30 newly bought songs I’d listened to only once!”

She didn’t add that it was also the last present her mother got her. Mom was still something of a no-go with her brothers, even so many years after she had died. 

“We’re going to have a barbecue this weekend, say, eleven?” Charlie abruptly announced. “At the house.” 

“Took the words right out of my mouth Chuck,” Don agreed and pulled away from the two of them. Colby took that as permission to sidle back up to her, arm wrapping around her waist. Out of the corner of her eye she saw Charlie make a face but obligingly pull his arm from around her shoulders. She focused back on Don when he continued, “Colby, take Edi home to see Dad and then bring her car back to LAX.” 

“And how am I supposed to get back to the office from the airport?” Colby asked, more amused than annoyed. 

“I’ll send an agent to pick you up,” he shrugged and Darcy snickered as she finally realized what Don was doing—it wasn’t that he was helping her not have to drive in LA, it was him helping her not have to drive in LA in a SHIELD vehicle. 

The team dispersed then, until the only three people in the room were her, Colby, and Ian. As he walked out, though, he turned and gave her a wink. 

“Always more fun when the full Eppes family is in town,” he said and then disappeared behind a cubicle wall. Darcy looked up at Colby, who was smirking. 

“One of these days I’ll figure out if he means that as a compliment or not.” 

~~*~~

Darcy was pretty sure her dad broke her ribs when he opened the door to his guest house (formerly the garage) and found Darcy standing there with Colby. 

“Eleanor!”

When Alan Eppes finally put her down, she turned and smacked her husband. 

“Stop laughing, it wasn’t that funny,” she informed him before turning back to her dad. “I’m in town for a week or two, Don and Charlie are already planning a barbecue Saturday, and I will be home with Colby making sure the house hasn’t become a biohazard. But you have me till the lunkhead gets off work.” 

Her dad beamed at her. 

“In that case, what do you say we start planning the barbecue, since you know Don and Charlie won’t actually have the time?” he suggested.

“And Robin and Amita will thank us forever and ever,” she nodded back solemnly, to which both her dad and husband laughed. 

Once Colby was gone to take the car back to LAX, Darcy and her father went into the main house. It hadn’t changed much since her own childhood, though there did seem to be a lot more toys scattered around than she remembered. 

“It was a rough morning,” her dad said when she commented on it. “I had to drive the kids to school because they missed the bus and Charlie and Amita had classes. Everyone overslept. Katherine has been getting over the flu.”

“Ah,” she nodded. That would explain it, as she knew Amita and Charlie usually cleaned up from the kids just before going to bed. If they had been dealing with KitKat, Darcy could just imagine the chaos the last couple days must have been. 

Darcy and her dad figured out a plan for the barbecue (Charlie would supply the meat, Ian and Darcy would both do desserts as they were the best bakers, and everyone else would bring side dishes). Then they went through the kitchen and figured out what Charlie and Amita would need. They made plans for Darcy to be picked up the next morning when everyone was at work to go grocery shopping for her brother, her dad, and herself. Given the seriousness of the case they were currently working, both she and her dad figured no one was going to have the time. 

Alan had always been the planner in the family, the one who organized everything. Mom, while good at it herself, didn’t take pride in a well-executed plan the way Dad did. Given Darcy had spent five years mostly alone with him, it was natural his planning tendencies had rubbed off on her. She supposed she should be grateful—after all, her ability to plan and plan well was part of the reason she and Jane, who couldn’t seem to plan to save her life, got on so well. 

By the time the bus showed up with the kids that afternoon, the entire barbecue, and contingency plans in case the FBI case swallowed them up, were all organized. Dad was working on something at his computer when the front door opened and Darcy, having taken his advice, was sitting at the coffee table in the living room, cross-legged on the floor. She watched, amused, as all six of her nieces and nephews crowded around the table in the dining room. Backpacks were upended, books and papers piled out, as the kids settled in to do homework.

Darcy felt a pang of nostalgia at the sight, recognizing the tradition from when she and her brothers had all been in school. None of the kids would be allowed to leave the table until Dad had checked their homework was done. She’d only been in third grade when the boys graduated high school so she’d always been done first but to know Dad had managed to get Charlie and Don to continue the tradition…

About ten minutes after they’d all settled in, Dad finally caught Darcy’s eye. Both of them were grinning, amused the kids hadn’t noticed her. Finally, Dad coughed. 

“You know,” he began and all but Maggie looked up. The little second grader had her nose buried in her book and Darcy grinned at the sight, taking a quick picture with her phone. Dad chuckled. “Homework time is a lot easier now that all their teachers use homework folders.” 

“I bet,” she drawled and laughed delightedly as every single one of the kids jumped about a foot in the air. 

“Aunt Darcy!” James yelled, scrambling up from where he’d fallen off his chair. Daniel and Alex, the kindergartners, got to her first though, zeroing in on her like twin missiles. 

“Oof!” Darcy grunted when they impacted with her, grateful she’d shut and tugged her laptop and work off to the side before Dad had spoken. Both boys were babbling a mile a minute and didn’t seem put off at all that the other four kids had all joined the impromptu doggy pile, which squished them and Darcy to the bottom. 

It took close to fifteen minutes for her and Dad to get the kids calmed down and back to their homework. Finally, once James had settled down at her promise of her being there for at least a week, silence reigned in the house again. 

~~*~~

Saturday dawned bright and early for Darcy, who was already at the house and helping to get everything ready. Colby was there too, helping Alan get the barbecue set up as Charlie and Amita stayed inside to clean every square inch of the public spaces. 

Darcy had been outside, watching the two men argue good natured about the fire, when Amita appeared in the doorway, face pale. 

“Get inside, now,” she said and then disappeared back into the house. A quick look to Colby showed he was already on alert, eyes flickering everywhere as they hurried inside. 

“What’s going on?” Alan asked when they came inside to find Amita and Charlie holding their kids, eyes glued to the TV where a disaster movie was playing. No one answered and Dad tried again. “Charlie? Amita?” 

“It’s New York,” Amita finally said, eyes tearing away from the screen. “It’s being attacked.” 

“By aliens!” Dorothy shouted. Darcy’s gaze shot straight at the TV which, she realized, was not showing a movie but news coverage. The news anchor was trying to narrate what was being shown, informing viewers it was coming straight from a team of brave cameramen on top of one of the buildings in downtown Manhattan. 

Swallowing hard at the destruction, Darcy slowly sat down on the arm of the armchair. Colby stayed standing, though his hand quickly found hers, holding tightly as her dad sank into the opposite armchair.

No one spoke a single word until the front door opened and Don’s kids all ran in, going straight to the TV like everyone else. Don and Robin came in swiftly after them, her older brother closing and locking the door behind them. He went and double checked the back door as well before finally joining them. 

Just after Don sat down, the news switched to another group of cameramen, who were focused on a group of people who were not running away in fear but seemed to be fighting the invaders. Darcy blinked as she recognized all four of them despite the grainy footage. 

“Is that Captain America?” James finally broke the silence, his voice hushed. 

“Who are the others?” Dorothy asked. Darcy caught Don’s eye, knowing she looked absolutely terrified. He took a deep breath and wrapped an arm around their niece’s shoulders.

“I think the redhead is Black Widow,” he said quietly. “She’s a special agent with a group like the FBI.” 

“And the guy in black and the bow is Hawkeye, her partner,” she added, feeling Colby squeeze her hand. A quick glance told her he looked just as worried as she felt. She knew he’d been talking with Clint more ever since the conference, rebuilding the friendship they’d had in Afghanistan. 

“What about the guy with the hammer?” Alex asked excitedly. “It has lightning!” 

Figuring Thor’s identity was probably over with, she gave her nephew a quick smile as another guy showed up on a motorcycle. 

“His name is Thor,” she said. “He’s an alien too, but he’s a good guy. And he likes pop-tarts.” 

The kids looked awed but the adults all looked at her incredulously. She gave a sheepish shrug, eyes going firmly back to the screen just in time to see Ironman lead one of the whale things towards the group on the ground. 

“I met him in New Mexico,” she admitted just as the guy who’d driven in changed on screen. One minute he was a nerdy looking guy and the next…” 

“That’s the Hulk!” James shouted directly into Robin’s ear as the green guy punched the whale in the mouth and then Ironman shot and blew the thing up. 

As they watched the six heroes go back to back in a circle, she felt Don gab her wrist and bring her attention back to him. 

“You and me are gonna have a talk after this is all over,” he ordered. 

Colby’s grip on her wrist tightened, indicating he was agreeing with Don. From the looks she was getting from all the family, she had a lot of explaining to do. 

She looked back at the screen just in time for them to spring into action. She took a deep breath and squeezed Colby’s hand tighter. 

“Please be safe.”

**Author's Note:**

> You guys have no idea how annoying it was having to go to YouTube to get the timing and everything right for the battle scenes. I think one of my students stole my Avengers movie last year when I brought a bunch of movies for the end of the year. *pouts*
> 
> On the plus side, this means I can upgrade the DVD to a Blu-ray. ;)


End file.
